Home > Thinking Right > Archives > 2008 > December > 01
Monday, December 1, 2008
Hillary, yes; Bill, no.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
President-elect Barack Obama might have found a better choice for Secretary of State — but, frankly, he did fine by me with Hillary Clinton.
Throughout the campaign, she clearly inspired greater confidence than did any of the other top Democrats. With Joe Biden, you had the impression that he could name all the state capitals and remember all the important dates and treaties, but as John McCain observed in one of the debates, he gets the big questions wrong.
As for Obama, he’s always been the mystery man — and that makes him the most frightening of the lot. Most frightening is that mystery men, especially those who project weakness in leadership and decision-making, invite testing.
To Obama’s credit, he is assembling a national security team that sends all the right messages to friends and enemies.His decision to continue Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense and to bring on retired Marine General James L. Jones, a McCain supporter, as national security adviser, aggravate the looney Left, but they send the right signal on Iraq and Afghanistan that this administration is not inclined to manage for defeat.
Hillary is tough enough to be Secretary of State. The first order of business will to keep husband Bill in a box; Nobody wants a two-fer. Nobody wants to hire her and get him. The nation is, we all hope, past that missiles-to-mud-huts era of national security that he represents.
Services »
